UNITED STATES: The IRS, along with state tax agencies and the tax industry, has launched the 8th annual National Tax Security Awareness Week from November 27 to December 1, 2023. The week-long campaign aims to educate taxpayers and tax professionals on how to protect their sensitive financial information against identity thieves, especially during the holiday season and the upcoming 2024 tax season.
The Security Summit, a coalition of the IRS, state tax administrators, tax software companies, the tax professional community, and others in the larger tax community, was formed in 2015 to combat tax-related identity theft through better public-private sector coordination, strengthening internal protections, and raising awareness about security threats.
The National Tax Security Awareness Week features a week-long series of educational efforts to educate and inform taxpayers and tax professionals on how to defend against identity theft and other scams. The campaign includes daily press releases, social media awareness, special educational materials, and a special webinar for tax professionals on developing a Written Information Security Plan (WISP).
The IRS and Summit partners are focused on combating identity thieves and their increasingly sophisticated scams. Identity thieves often impersonate the IRS and others in the tax community using fake emails, texts, and online scams. These schemes frequently use recent tragedies or imitate charitable groups to coax people into sharing sensitive financial data, which can lead to tax-related identity theft.
The Security Summit partners remind taxpayers that the awareness effort is a year-round effort in the tax community. The special National Tax Security Awareness Week that begins on November 27 provides extra awareness for taxpayers as the holidays and the 2024 tax season approaches. The IRS and Summit partners urge tax professionals to review the “Taxes-Security-Together” Checklist and create a written data security plan as required by federal law.
Overall, National Tax Security Awareness Week is an innovative way for the IRS, the states, and the private-sector tax industry to work together to protect taxpayers and the tax community. Protecting taxpayers is an important priority for the IRS, and the National Tax Security Awareness Week provides helpful information to taxpayers to help in the ongoing battle against identity thieves.
 and its Security Summit partners have announced the 8th annual National Tax Security Awareness Week, which will focus on raising awareness among taxpayers and tax professionals on security tips to protect against identity theft and scams.){kind=link}